Pentagram
Pentagram are a doom band from the United States (With ties to Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia), most famous as one of the key progenitors of doom metal. The band was prolific in the underground scene of the 1970s, producing many demos and rehearsal tapes. However they would not release a full-length album until reforming in the early 1980s with an almost completely new lineup and heavier, darker sound. Throughout the band's history spanning nearly fifty years the only constant member had been vocalist Bobby Liebling. History First Daze Here: The Early Years (1971 - 1976) In 1971, Liebling and Geof O’Keefe decided to leave their previous bands (Shades of Darkness and Space Meat, respectively) to form a new band that reflected their interest in emerging metal acts such as UFO, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Sir Lord Baltimore but most importantly Blue Cheer. At Liebling’s suggestion, the group was named Pentagram, a sinister name that reflected the gloomy subject matter of their material. Although the band would change its name several times during 1971 and 1972 (Virgin Death, Macabre, Stone Bunny and Wicked Angel were all considered during this period), they would eventually (and permanently) return to Pentagram. During their five-year career, they were represented by seven different managers, including Gordon Fletcher, a Washington D.C. rock journalist who wrote for magazines such as Rolling Stone, Creem and Circus. The others were Steve Lorber, Phillip Knudsen, Skip Groff, Bob Fowler, Tim Kidwell and Tom McGuire. The initial Pentagram lineup consisted of Liebling (vocals), O'Keefe (guitar), Vincent McAllister (bass), and Steve Martin (drums). Early practices included the long-time standard "Livin' in a Ram's Head", along with several other long-lasting Pentagram stalwarts. After a month of rehearsals, Space Meat alumnus John Jennings joined to create Pentagram's dual-guitar "Mark II" lineup. It soon became clear that Martin's jazz-influenced drumming did not fit Pentagram's hard-rocking style, and so he was asked to leave the group. His position was filled by guitarist O'Keefe, reprising the role of drummer he had previously enjoyed in Space Meat. This "Mark III" lineup of Pentagram was a strong one, and at the time, it seemed like Pentagram had found a permanent lineup. However, after this lineup's first rehearsal, Jennings called O'Keefe to tell him that he was leaving the group, citing a lack of interest in heavy music as his reason for departure. After a few rehearsals without a guitarist, bassist McAllister picked up a guitar and amazed Liebling and O'Keefe with frenzied, feedback-laden soloing. McAllister would go on to become Pentagram's guitarist for the next five years. Later McAllister would leave for California (1980) to attend classes at the Guitar Institute of Technology and Jennings would subsequently collaborate with Mary Chapin Carpenter during the 1980s and into the 1990s as her primary guitarist. On Christmas Day 1971, this "classic" Pentagram lineup began rehearsing, with Liebling on vocals, McAllister on guitar, Greg Mayne (formerly of Space Meat) on bass, and O’Keefe on drums. The band played their first concert on 8 December 1973 at Montgomery Junior College in Rockville, Maryland.Setlist.fmAccessed 12 January 2017 In mid-1974, rhythm guitarist Randy Palmer joined the "Ram Family", as the group was known, but left in January 1975 due to drug problems and the group once again continued on as a quartet. The band played sporadic shows over the years, even sharing the stage with Judas Priest on one occasion. Thanks to manager Gordon Fletcher's industry connections, the group had several "close calls" in the following years with regard to a recording contract. On April 29, 1975, Fletcher persuaded Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman (producers and managers for the legendary Blue Öyster Cult) to see them rehearse. Impressed, the two arranged a demo session at Columbia Studios in New York City in September. Unfortunately, the session went sour after a conflict between Liebling and Krugman over a point of production, and the group's major label hopes were dashed. The group also rehearsed in front of Kiss members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in December 1975, but the Kiss camp was unimpressed by the group's lack of image and Pentagram remained unsigned. On December 16, 1975, Liebling and his girlfriend were arrested, leading to the other members of the band meeting on New Year's Eve to discuss their status. The decision was made that the rest of the band would quit Pentagram because Liebling owned the rights for the name "Pentagram", and they could not continue under that name without him. The remaining members unsuccessfully auditioned singers during much of 1976 before recruiting Marty Iverson as a second guitarist in the summer of 1976 and deciding to give Liebling a second chance. However, after beginning a recording session at Underground Sound in Largo, Maryland, the band split from Liebling again, leaving the sessions unfinished and unmixed. For much of their career, Pentagram rehearsed at the American Mailing warehouse in Alexandria, due to the fact that both Liebling and O’Keefe lived in high-rise apartments. The latter’s father, George O’Keefe, was an executive at American Mailing. The younger O’Keefe had used this location for many of his previous musical projects, whether on his own or with Space Meat. At the warehouse, the group was able to have a good practice room to store their equipment and play loudly without the worry of complaining neighbors. Many of these early rehearsals were recorded on O’Keefe's reel-to-reel tape recorder. The resulting rehearsal tapes, featuring the many early lineups the group went through in the early 1970s, were later traded extensively among Pentagram fans. When American Mailing moved locations, Pentagram eventually moved to rehearse at Mayne's house, which he was renting with an old friend, locally renowned keyboardist Knox Cockrell. Pentagram’s first 7-inch, "Be Forewarned" was released under the name Macabre and included "Lazy Lady" as the B-Side. The record was produced by Phillip Knudsen and released on Intermedia (TBSM 003). This recording ended up being one of the band's only proper releases, although a promotional 7" of the song "Hurricane" (Boffo Socko R13859) was also released during that time. A large number of demo and rehearsal recordings (as well as multiple unreleased studio recordings) exist from this time period. Despite the handful of recorded material, Pentagram’s repertoire reportedly consisted of nearly 80 original songs, written or co-written by Liebling, as well as covers such as "Under My Thumb" by the Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds’ version of "Little Games." though Bobby claims he's written as many as 450 songs in the 70s. After O'Keefe, McAllister, and Mayne split from Liebling, a new lineup consisting of Liebling (vocals), Randy Palmer (guitar) and John Ossea (drums) began rehearsing in the basement of a dentist's office. Bass players in that period included Rick Marinari, who went on to join Albatross, and Vance Bockis, later of The Obsessed. However, this lineup folded after only a couple of months and Liebling was once again band-less. On Halloween 1978, the singer bumped into his friend Joe Hasselvander at the Louie's Rock City club in Falls Church, Virginia while seeing Sex, a band featuring ex-members of both Pentagram and The Boyz (Hasselvander's previous band). Hasselvander was playing in a singer-less group consisting of himself (drums), Richard Kueht (guitar), Paul Trowbridge (guitar), and Marty Swaney (bass). Liebling soon joined, and in less than a week they would take on the Pentagram moniker and begin performing Liebling's material from the previous Pentagram lineup. This configuration played several shows and released a 7" single of "Livin' in a Ram's Head" in 1979, but personal problems caused this lineup to dissolve later that year. It is generally referred to as the "High Voltage era" of Pentagram. Death Row era & The early Peaceville Years (1981 - 1994) See also: Death Row In 1980, bassist Lee Abney and guitarist Victor Griffin formed a Knoxville, Tennessee (later based in Northern Virginia) doom metal band named Death Row. Shortly thereafter, drummer Hasselvander joined, and the group recruited Liebling on vocals. Former member Swaney soon replaced Abney on bass and the classic Death Row lineup was forged. Following two demos in 1982 and 1983, Hasselvander left the band in 1984. Stuart Rose was picked as his replacement, and the band soon assumed the Pentagram mantle. The 1982 demo, All Your Sins, was then remixed and partially rerecorded in 1984 for release in 1985 as the band's eponymous debut album (Then known as "Pentagram" and known more commonly as "Relentless"). The album contained a mix of new songs and 1970s-era songs, as did all of the following Pentagram albums. The record's heavier sound and obscure lyrical themes helped cement Pentagram's reputation as one of the pioneers of the classic doom metal style. In 1986 the lineup of Liebling/Griffin/Swaney/Rose (With exception to one track) recorded the band's second album, while Griffin drew the logo for the band.Victor Griffin FacebookAccessed 12 May 2018 After releasing their second album Day of Reckoning in January 1987, the band performed a couple times and folded yet again. In 1989, 1970s-era members Mayne and Palmer rejoined Liebling with the addition of Ted Feldman on guitar and John Cook on drums. The band was working on recording a third LP, but shortly after their first performance in Maryland, they split up. The previous "classic" lineup of Liebling, Griffin, Swaney and Hasselvander reformed in 1993, and Peaceville Records reissued the first two albums (Day of Reckoning featured re-recorded drums by Hasselvander). In 1994 they released their third full-length album, Be Forewarned. At some point the band also recorded a song for a Captain Beyond tribute album. Griffin and Hasselvander briefly joined UK doom band Cathedral as live musicians in 1994 when Cathedral was supporting Black Sabbath. Bassist Greg Turley and drummer Gary Isom occasionally performed a handful of live shows with the band in the mid 90s, filling in for Swaney and Hasselvander. The Black Widow Years & Crisis (1995 - 2005) Pentagram split up again, and in 1996, a new lineup was forged, consisting of Liebling on vocals, Hasselvander on drums and new members Greg Reeder on guitar and Ned Meloni on bass. This lineup recorded a demo, Change of Heart. Shortly afterward, Pentagram reemerged as a duo, with Liebling retaining vocal duties and Hasselvander taking care of all instrumentation. In 1998, Human Hurricane was released showcasing a plethora of the early 70s Pentagram songs. Liebling and Hasselvander recorded both 1999's Review Your Choices and 2001's Sub-Basement as a duo. Along with these two albums the duo recorded two cover songs for a Blue Cheer tribute album. In-between those albums, a brief live reunion of the Death Row classic lineup took place with Liebling, Griffin, Hasselvander and Abney. The duo of Liebling and Hasselvander had intentions to perform live as Pentagram during this period, assisted by bassist Walter White and drummer Dale Russell. In 2001, Relapse Records issued First Daze Here (The Vintage Collection), a compilation consisting of unreleased material from the 1970s. In 2002, Peaceville Records released a compilation of songs from the first three albums titled Turn to Stone. Peaceville re-released the band's first three albums on CD in digipak format with liner notes by Liebling in 2005. In 2003, A Keg Full of Dynamite was released, depicting a live recording from 1978 along with the 7" single of "When The Screams Come". Shortly after Sub-Basement, Hasselvander split with Liebling after a botched performance in 2001 where Liebling no-showed a key "comeback" show. Some years later Liebling would recruit guitarist Kelly Carmichael, bassist Adam Heinzmann, and drummer Mike Smail from Internal Void. This new lineup recorded Show 'Em How in 2004, an album that featured seven rerecorded 1970s-era Pentagram songs along with three new originals. After Show 'Em How, the band remained in limbo for some time due to Liebling's unstable behavior and drug addiction, including collapsing in the intro to an important 2005 show at D.C.'s Black Cat with The Hidden Hand, forcing the band to recruit Hasselvander and others from the audience to perform in his stead.Stonerrock.comAccessed 27 July 2016 Guest Appearances and Dormancy (2006 - 2008) After the infamous Black Cat performance Carmichael, Smail and Heinzmann would leave the band. The band itself would go into somewhat of a dormancy for a few years. Around the same time shooting for the Pentagram documentary Last Days Here had begun and band manager/fan Sean Pelletier began working with Bobby Liebling to help get his life and the band back together. First Daze Here Too: The Vintage Collection would be released on March 7, 2006 on Relapse Records with 22 songs recorded in the 70s and extensive liner notes from members of the 70s lineup. Throughout the next few years Bobby Liebling would make sporadic guest appearances with various bands. On October 7, 2006 Liebling would appear as a guest for Hank Williams III to perform "Forever My Queen" and "Be Forewarned".YouTubeAccessed March 28, 2016.YouTubeAccessed March 28, 2016. On November 11, 2006 at The Black Cat in Washington D.C., Bobby would appear as a guest for Witchcraft to perform the Pentagram songs "When The Screams Come" and "Yes I Do".YouTubeAccessed March 28, 2016. On April 14, 2007 Bobby would appear with Unorthodox to perform Black Sabbath's "War Pigs".YouTube. On March 29, 2008 he would appear as a guest for Unorthodox again to perform Black Sabbath's "Faeries Wear Boots"YouTube. In 2008, Pentagram would release a cover of Pink Floyd's "Flaming" on Like Black Holes In The Sky: A Tribute to Syd Barrett. Gary Isom and Kayt Vigil would serve as the backing musicians for the track. Around the same time Bobby would record demos with Dave Sherman, Russ Strahan and Gary Isom under the title "Bobby Liebling's Ram Family" for possible reference on a new album though it would be self-released by Bobby in 2009. Resurgence (2009 - 2010) After eventually working up a lineup of Russ Strahan (Guitar), Mark Ammen (Bass) and Gary Isom (Drums), Pentagram had a new lineup with the intent of recording new material and for the first time in their career, touring. In 2009, the band played two triumphant shows in New York City and Baltimore. The New York show was filmed for the documentary Last Days Here. Due to the success of these shows, the band embarked on a seven-date mini-tour which included two sold-out shows in Chicago, plus dates in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; San Francisco's DNA Lounge and West Hollywood's House of Blues. A tour of Europe would follow, marking Pentagram's first live appearances outside the United States. In 2010, the band would embark on a short tour of the United States with The Gates of Slumber as direct support. On 14 March 2010, Strahan abruptly left the band one day before a spring tour was to begin. Scrambling to find a guitarist, Liebling contacted Johnny "Wretched" Koutsioukis of Wretched to replace Strahan on lead guitar. Wretched unfortunately had limited time to learn the material thus creating a tour where the band had performed shortened, limited sets. The Return of Victor Griffin and Last Rites (2010 - 2014) After the March tour of 2010, Johnny Wretched and Mark Ammen would both leave the band. With a string of dates in May lined up, Bobby Liebling would reach out to former guitarist Victor Griffin with the possibility of working together again. Along with Griffin's nephew (Also a former bassist) Greg Turley the band would be ready for a string of dates leading up to the 2010 edition of Maryland Deathfest. Victor Griffin would speak of rejoining the band in a 2011 interview with Decibel: Gary Isom would leave the band citing a monetary dispute right after their performance at Maryland Deathfest, ultimately delaying production of Last Rites again. Place of Skulls drummer Tim Tomaselli would take over as a replacement to provide the drum role to get the album finished while Albert Born (Loculus, Yesterday's Saints) would perform as the bands drummer on some dates in 2011. Eventually on 11 April 2011 Last Rites would be released on Metal Blade Records. Their live performance at Maryland Deathfest would also be released on DVD as When The Screams Come on 30 August 2011. In a 2011 interview with Decibel, Bobby would speak fondly of the band's resurgence and touring: Pentagram would tour more frequently over the years with some lineup changes. Sean Saley (Government Issue) would join as the band's drummer in 2012. From 2013 to 2014, Victor Griffin would depart from the band amicably and Matt Goldsborough (Carousel, The Great Unknown, The Skull) would take over on guitar while Victor Griffin would focus on the In-Graved project for the time being. Curious Volume and Further Conflicts (2015 - Present) In 2015, Pentagram would start work on their next album. Around the same time in February of 2015 a double-DVD set entitled All Your Sins was released, chronicling multiple live shows from 1983 to 2014. Sean Saley would leave the band during production of the next album and "Minnesota" Pete Campbell would take his place. Ultimately, Curious Volume was released on 21 August 2015 to positive reviews. In 2016, Pentagram announced a world tour in support of "Curious Volume", leading up to a performance at Roadburn Festival. Along with that was an announcement to perform at Burger Records' Burger Beach BashFacebookAccessed 13 May 2016 and the 2016 edition of Psycho Festival in Las Vegas. Interesting of note on the West Coast leg of the Curious Volume tour (With King Woman and Wax Idols as support), Liebling was unable to make it to at least one date of the tour due to travel complications, leaving Victor Griffin to handle vocal duties in his place. Liebling was also notably late on the second date and both support acts dropped off the tour before it was finished due to sexual harassment from Liebling towards both bands.BrooklynVeganAccessed 9 June 2016. Despite any setbacks, the band performed two tours of the United States and two tours of Europe in 2016 in what proved to be the most extensive tour of Pentagram's career. Pentagram would announce a string of dates with Black Wizard, Royal Thunder and Brant Bjork in April 2017 (With Liebling unable to appear due to going into rehab.)Place of Skulls FacebookAccessed 20 April 2017. An announced tour of Europe would also not feature Liebling due to him getting arrest on a first-degree assault charge among other charges, leaving him in prison. Turley, Campbell and Griffin chose to perform as Pentagram on these dates, to some critics attaining praise for Victor Griffin's vocal performance. While not directly hinted it is implied the band will go on without Liebling for the time being, touring Europe that summer and appearing as Psycho Las Vegas without him. Despite not having what some considered the "soul" of Pentagram the live performances as a trio with Victor Griffin were received with positive reception. On 7 October 2017 it was officially confirmed that Bobby Liebling would be serving eighteen months in jail for the aggravated assault on his own mother Diane Liebling with probation to follow. Whether the band will continue without him for the time being is currently unknown. On 31 October 2018 it would be announced that Pentagram would be one of the headliners for The Maryland Doom Fest. It is confirmed that Liebling has returned to the group as vocalist as Pentagram set up a ten-date tour for March 2019, with Goldsborough filling in for Griffin. Members Current Lineup * Bobby Liebling - Vocals (1971-2005, 2008-2016, 2019-present) * Greg Turley - Bass (1995-1996, 2010-present) * Pete Campbell - Drums (2015-present) * Matt Goldsborough - Guitar (2013-2014, 2015, 2019-present) Past Members *Vincent McAllister - Guitar, Bass (1971-1977; died 2006) *Greg Mayne - Bass (1971-1976, 1988-1989) *Geof O'Keefe - Drums, Guitar (1971-1977) *Steve Martin - Drums (1971) *John Jennings - Guitar (1971; died 2015) *Randy Palmer - Guitar (1974-1975, 1988-1989; died 2002) *Marty Iverson - Guitar (1976-1977) *Rick Marinari - Bass (1976-1977) *John Ossea - Drums (1977; died 1989) *Joe Hasselvander - Drums, Bass, Guitar (1978-1979, 1983-1985, 1993-2002) *Martin Swaney - Bass (1978-1979, 1983-1988, 1993-1995) *Victor Griffin - Guitar, Vocals (1983-1988, 1993-1996, 2010-2012, 2014-2017) *Richard Kueht - Guitar (1978-1979) *Paul Trowbridge - Guitar (1978-1979) *Vance Bockis -Bass (1979; died 2012) *Stuart Rose - Drums (1985-1988; died 2016) *Ted Feldman - Guitar (1988-1989) *John Cook - Drums (1989) *Gary Isom - Drums (1995-1996, 2008-2010) *Ned Meloni - Bass (1996) *Greg Reeder - Guitar (1996) *Dale Russell - Drums (2001) *Walter White - Bass (2001) *Kelly Carmichael - Guitar (2003-2005) *Adam Heinzmann - Bass (2003-2005) *Mike Smail - Drums (2003-2005) *Kayt Vigil - Bass (2008) *Mark Ammen - Bass (2008-2010) *Russ Strahan - Guitar (2008-2010) *Johnny "Wretched" Koutsioukis - Guitar (2010) *Albert Born - Drums (2011) *Tim Tomaselli - Drums (2010-2011) *Sean Saley - Drums (2012–2015) Discography Studio Albums * Pentagram (1985, Pentagram Records, later re-released as Relentless.) * Day of Reckoning (1987, Napalm Records) * Be Forewarned (1994, Peaceville Records) * Review Your Choices (1999, Black Widow Records) * Sub-Basement (2001, Black Widow Records) * Show Em' How (2004, Black Widow Records) * Last Rites (2011, Metal Blade Records) * Curious Volume (2015, Peaceville Records) Compilations * Human Hurricane (1998, Downtime) * First Daze Here: The Vintage Collection (2001, Relapse Records) * First Daze Here Too (2006, Relapse Records) * If The Winds Would Change (2011, High Roller Records) * Change of Heart (2012, Iron Pegasus) Live Albums/Videos * A Keg Full of Dynamite (2003, Black Widow Records) * Live Rites (2011, Svart Records) * When The Screams Come (2011, Metal Blade Records) * Last Days Here (2011 MPI Media Group) * All Your Sins (2015, Peaceville Records) Selected Compilation Appearances * Dancing Madly Backwards (On A Sea Of Air) on Thousand Days Of Yesterdays - A Tribute To Captain Beyond (1999, Record Heaven Music) * Doctor Please and Feathers From Your Tree on Blue Explosion: A Tribute To Blue Cheer (2000, Black Widow Records) * Much Too Young To Know (Rough Mix) on Contaminated VI (2003, Relapse) * Flaming on Like Black Holes In The Sky: The Tribute To Syd Barrett (2008, Dwell Records) * After Forever on Sweet Leaf - A Stoner Rock Salute to Black Sabbath (2015, Deadline) Tours NOTE: While Pentagram had been active since 1971 in one fashion or another the band could only sporadically perform or as band members themselves would say "We could rarely get out of DC.". Thus the 2009 tour of the United States is listed as the first tour here. * 2009 - 2009 USA Tour * 2009 - 2009 European Tour * 2010 - Pentagram's January 2010 Tour (With The Gates of Slumber) * 2010 - Pentagram's March/April 2010 Tour * 2010 - Pentagram's May 2010 Tour (With Black Tusk) * 2010 - Pentagram's June 2010 Tour * 2011 - 2011 April European Tour * 2011 - 2011 USA Tour * 2011 - 2011 December European Tour * 2012 - 2012 Summer European Tour * 2012 - 2012 Fall European Tour * 2013 - 2013 European Mini-Tour * 2013 - 2013 August Mini-Tour * 2013 - 2013 October European Tour * 2014 - 2014 Spring West Coast Tour * 2014 - 2014 May European Tour * 2014 - 2014 Texas Residency * 2014 - 2014 July & September European Tour * 2014 - 2014 Fall East Coast Tour * 2015 - 2015 Spring European Tour * 2015 - 2015 USA Tour * 2015 - 2015 Fall European Tour * 2016 - Curious Volume Tour (East Coast) (With King Giant, Mondo Drag) * 2016 - Curious Volume European Tour (Spring) * 2016 - Curious Volume Tour (West Coast) (With Wax Idols, King Woman) * 2016 - Curious Volume European Tour (Fall) * 2017 - Tao of The Devil Tour (Supporting Brant Bjork on three dates; No Liebling) * 2017 - 2017 European Tour (No Liebling) * 2019 - Last Days Here North American Tour (Spring) (With Brother Dege, Dirty Streets) * 2019 - Last Days Here North American Tour (Fall) Links *Ramshead.org (Fanpage) *Interview with Victor Griffin; For reference References Category:Band Category:Washington D.C. Category:Virginia Category:Maryland Category:Doom Metal Category:Hard Rock Category:Southern Lord Records Category:Pentagram Category:Bobby Liebling Category:Victor Griffin Category:Joe Hasselvander Category:Martin Swaney Category:Geof O'Keefe Category:Black Widow Records Category:Death Row Category:Bedemon Category:USA Category:1971